During an interview, Donald Trump mulled seeking a third term as president. But the constitution states that a president can only serve a maximum of two terms.
US President Donald Trump has said he would consider seeking a third presidential term — something barred by the constitution.
“I’m not joking,” he told US broadcaster NBC in a phone interview on Sunday night. “There are methods which you can do it.”
“I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which in a way is a fourth term because the other election, the 2020 election, was totally rigged,” he said, still maintaining the incorrect belief that Joe Biden stole the 2020 presidential race.
NBC suggested Vice President JD Vance could run for office, then “pass the baton” back to Trump.
“Well, that’s one [method],” Trump said, “but there are others too.”
When asked to specify another, he replied: “No.”
He qualified that plans for a third term, which would require a constitutional amendment, are still somewhat distant.
“I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, we’ve got a long time to go.”
The 78 years-old president would be 82 at the time of the next elections in 2028.
Authoritarian concerns continue to grow
Under current law, no president may serve more than two terms.
“This is yet another escalation in his clear effort to take over the government and dismantle our democracy,” New York congressman Daniel Goldman, a Democrat, said in a statement.
“If Congressional Republicans believe in the constitution, they will go on the record opposing Trump’s third term.”
Trump’s supporters in government have shown their determination.
“I’m a firm believer that President Trump will run and win again in 2028,” right-wing White House strategist Steve Bannon told broadcaster News Nation.
“We’re working on it. I think we’ll have a couple of alternatives… we’ll see what the definition of term limit is.”
America’s four-term president
The two-term limit on US presidents is less than 80 years old.
Prior to 1951, only serving two terms as president was just a tradition stemming from first-ever president George Washington’s decision not to seek a third term in 1796.
But Franklin Delano Roosevelt sought an unprecedented third term in 1940, which he won in a landslide.
In 1944 he won a fourth term before passing just five months later.
In 1947, congress approved a 22nd amendment to the constitution, limiting presidential terms to two. It was fully ratified and came into effect in 1951.
Two days after Trump’s inauguration, a Republican congressman introduced a new resolution to amend the constitution to allow Trump a third term.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
DW News
